


The Family You Choose

by BloodyDemonWitch



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Car Accidents, Coma, Father-Son Relationship, Found Family, Gen, Luke and Leia are not related, Medical Inaccuracies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:54:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28434957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BloodyDemonWitch/pseuds/BloodyDemonWitch
Summary: It had been two weeks since the accident. It had been fourteen days since Anakin had set food into his 16-year-old son's bedroom. He spent most of his time on the couch, drinking and ignoring the ringing phone and doorbell.
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker & Luke Skywalker
Comments: 4
Kudos: 50





	The Family You Choose

**Author's Note:**

> Before we begin, I wrote this in March and it shows.  
> I only now decided to publish it, because it's the end of the year.   
> Alright, now that's out of the way: enjoy!

It had been two weeks since the accident. It had been fourteen days since Anakin had set food into his 16-year-old son's bedroom. Every day he numbly passed the closed door, ignoring it like it wasn't there. He didn't want, no he couldn't, face the reality of what had happened yet.

These past weeks had passed in a blur. Anakin spent most of his time on the couch, drinking and ignoring the ringing phone and doorbell. It seemed like everybody who he had ever crossed paths with, wanted to check up on him; to see how he was dealing with the current situation at hand. But out of all the people that had been relentless to check up on him, Ahsoka and Obi-Wan had by far been the worst with their efforts. Ahsoka had even gone as far to try to pick the lock of his front door, but he had barricaded it so nobody could enter.

Anakin didn't go outside, he didn't talk to anybody. He just laid on the couch; his eyes closed, doing his best to forget reality and the world around him.

A soft grunt came from the kitchen, but Anakin decided that he didn't care. If it were robbers, they would see soon enough that there was nothing to rob. They would stumble upon a house in disarray and a broken man in the middle of it. Footsteps came towards him, maybe if he ignored it, it would go away by its own, rather than Anakin dealing with it.

"Anakin?" A worried voice came from above him, so much for that plan.

"Jesus Christ, this place is a mess." Another voice said.

"Go away." Anakin moaned, "Leave me be."

He tried to turn around on the couch, but it made him dizzy, so he stopped.

"Not a chance, Skyguy." Ahsoka said. Some hands pushed him in a sitting position.

"Ahsoka, could you get him a glass of water?" Anakin recognized the voice now.

"Obi-Wan?", Anakin opened his eyes, but closed them quickly at the bright lights. He heard some moving and the sound of blinds being pulled. At the same time he felt a hand on his shoulder and a glass being put at his lips.

He opened his eyes again and this time the room was dark. He saw Ahsoka's face in front of him and Obi-Wan beside her.

"How did you get in?" Anakin asked in a raspy voice.

"Through the window." Obi-Wan said like it was the most normal thing in the world.

"Oh right." Anakin said in the same tone, before he took the glass over from Ahsoka and drowned it.

"When was the last time you cleaned this place?" Obi-Wan asked in disgust as he picked up some empty liquor bottles and walked out of his field of vision. Anakin massaged his temples and groaned. He really didn't need a lecture right now. He flinched as the sounds of empty glass bottles hitting each other came from the kitchen.

"Why are you here?" Anakin asked Ahsoka, who was still standing over him.

"We are here," Ahsoka answered slowly, as if she was talking to an idiot, "Because we care about you."

"And," Obi-Wan added, "We care about Lu-"

"Don't say his name." Anakin hissed, he buried his face into his hands, "Please, I can't take it."

He felt Ahsoka's arm around him as she sat down next to him.

"Oh, Anakin."

Anakin's shoulders started shaking and muffled sobs came from his hands. Another pair of arms wrapped around him and held him as he cried. It felt like hours before the crying stopped and the only thing coming from his throat were hiccups. But even then, Ahsoka and Obi-Wan didn't let go of him.

"It should have been me." Anakin chocked.

"Anakin!" Obi-Wan gasped.

"No," Anakin said, "You don't understand." He batted the hands away.

"I saw the car was about to hit us, so swerved." He paused, "I swerved so the car wouldn't hit my side."

"And so the other car would hit the passenger side." Ahsoka guessed and Anakin nodded.

"But Luke sat on my right in the passenger seat." He looked at Obi-Wan, who stared back at him with unshed tears in his eyes.

"I made a bad judgment call and my son paid the price."

Both Ahsoka and Obi-Wan pulled Anakin closer to them. Holding him and making comforting circles on his back, as they were trying to shush a crying child. 

"It was a reflex, Anakin." Obi-Wan tried to console him. Anakin pushed both Ahsoka and Obi-Wan away from him and angry jumped up from the couch.

"Maybe it was!" He yelled at them, "Maybe it was a reflex, but that doesn't bring my son back!"

"He's not dead, Anakin!" Ahsoka also jumped up and yelled back, "Stop pretending he is!"

"He's as good as! You heard the doctors!" He looked back at Obi-Wan, "You both did!"

"Yes!" Ahsoka stepped closer, "We heard them! But we also heard he has a chance of recovery!"

"A _slim_ chance." Anakin spat back. "He has a _slim_ chance of recovery and even _if_ he wakes up, he's probably not going to be 100 for a very long time!"

"Well, if you-" Ahsoka tried to yell back, but was interrupted by Obi-Wan.

"Enough!" He stood up from the couch and stood between Ahsoka and Anakin.

"This isn't going anywhere." He said sternly. Anakin huffed. Obi-Wan turned towards him.

"Anakin, I know you're having a hard time, but your son needs you right now."

Ahsoka had a satisfied smile on her face, but then Obi-Wan turned towards her.

"And Ahsoka," The smile disappeared instantly, "I know you are frustrated, but yelling is not going to solve anywhere."

All three stood in silence for the a moment and then an angry look crossed Anakin's face.

"I want you out of my house!" He spat.

"Anakin-" Ahsoka tried.

"OUT!" Anakin picked up a beer bottle from the table and threw it against the wall.

"GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" Ahsoka tried to walk towards him, but was stopped by Obi-Wan, who softly shook his head at her.

"If you need us," He said, "you know where to find us."

* * *

Ahsoka had spent the last four weeks more time with Luke, than she had ever done, but not more time than Obi-Wan had. The older male had spent every bit of free time he had at Luke's side like he was trying to compensate for Anakin's absence. So it came as no surprise to Ahsoka that she heard Obi-Wan's rich voice as she entered Luke's hospital room.

"And then the fierce tomcat grew bigger and bigger he grew." He looked up from the book he was reading to Luke as Ahsoka sat down in the chair across him. He smiled sadly at her. He opened his mouth to continue with the book, but he sighed and closed it.

"How is he?" Ahsoka asked and took a look at the teenager in the bed. He looked almost peaceful. The only thing that betrayed there was something wrong was the white bandage around his head and the needles in his arms.

"Same as always." He sighed, "The nurses said they'll remove his bandage soon."

Obi-Wan put the book on the nightstand. He looked absolutely exhausted. He was pale, his usually well-kept hair and beard showed streaks of grey and there were dark circles under his eyes.

"You should go home." Ahsoka said suddenly. Obi-Wan looked at her in shock.

"I can't." He protested immediately, "Luke still needs to do his exercises."

"I'll do them with him." Ahsoka countered. She could see the doubt in Obi-Wan's eyes, so she decided to press on.

"Look, I know you're his godfather and I'm only his fun aunt," Obi-Wan snorted, "But you should go home."

For a moment Ahsoka thought Obi-Wan was going to refuse again, but then he slapped his knee and stood up. He pressed a soft kiss against Luke's forehead and whispered a goodbye. On his way out he stopped by Ahsoka and squeezed her shoulder. He didn't say anything, didn't need to. Ahsoka put her dark hand on top of Obi-Wan's pale one reassuringly.

"Call me if anything changes?"

"Of course."

Ahsoka didn't have to turn around to know that Obi-Wan was lingering in the doorframe before leaving.

"Now it's just you and me, Skykid." Ahsoka moved to start on Luke's physical therapy. She threw the blanket back. Luke had some lost muscle mass over the time he had been stuck in bed and the doctors predicted that he would probably lose more over time, if he didn't wake up.

The exercises were supposed to remedy that, but so far Ahsoka thought it had had little effect.

She had known Anakin since she was fourteen years old and had known Luke since he was born. They're family was small and broken, but it was her family none the less.

Ahsoka had been there when Padmé died. She had seen Anakin completely fall apart. In the end he had pulled through, but only after Obi-Wan had threatened to take Luke away from him, seeing he did know how to properly take care of the baby.

_"You can't do that!" Anakin yelled at Obi-Wan._

_"Anakin," He sighed calmly, "I can and I will."_

_Luke started to cry in the background and when Anakin made no move to console him, Ahsoka herself walked over to Luke's crib. His little face was already red. She cooed at him._

_Meanwhile Anakin and Obi-Wan were still bickering._

_"I won't let you take my own son from me!"_

_"You don't seem to care about him all that much."_

_Ahsoka picked Luke up and cradled him close to her chest. She tried to shush him, but it was to no avail._

_"You're just doing this because of Qui-Gon!" Anakin yelled. Ahsoka couldn't help but cringe at that comment. That was a low blow._

_"Qui-Gon has nothing to do with his." Obi-Wan said through clenched teeth at the mention of their adoptive father._

_Luke started to cry even harder and Ahsoka was bouncing him up and down, but it didn't seem to help at all._

_"You wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for him!"_

_"Anakin, that's not true and you know it."_

_"You've always been jealous of me!"_

_Ahsoka decided she had heard enough. She left the room quietly, still bouncing Luke up and down on her hip._

_"It's okay, Skykid." She whispered. She closed the door behind her and sat down on the stairs in the hallway and cradle Luke in her arms. The baby was still crying his eyes out._

_"It's all going to be alright." She said, rocking her arms. It seemed to calm Luke down slightly. She repeating the action until Luke completely ceased crying._

_"I know like it seems like your daddy doesn't love you." She said softly._

_"But he does. He just has a hard time showing it."_

_Luke was completely silent now and was actually using his little hand to grab Ahsoka's fingers. She blew a raspberry on Luke's belly. He giggled and tugged on her white hair._

_Obi-Wan's and Anakin's voices had died down. Ahsoka tickled Luke's tummy and he squealed happily. She realized tight there and then, that there wasn't anything she wouldn't do for him._

Ahsoka finished up Luke's exercises. She looked at him for a moment. Even with the bandage around Luke's head he looked very peaceful, almost like he was just sleeping. Like he could wake up every moment, sit up straight in his bed, yell out: "Auntie 'Soka!" and hug her tightly, like he would do when he was a little kid.

Suddenly, Ahsoka felt herself getting angry with Anakin. He better get his head out of his ass and he better do it fast.

* * *

The TV was on, but Anakin wasn't watching. He didn't really watch TV anymore. To be honest, Anakin didn't really do anything anymore these days. Everything seemed to take so much energy and he just couldn't push himself to anything. He didn't eat, he didn't sleep and he didn't shower either. He tried to stop himself from thinking, thinking about the accident, thinking about Luke.

_Luke was using both his hands to shovel food in, half of it missed its mark and ended up on his face instead._

_"Glad to see your son eats just like you." Obi-Wan said with a mixture of disgust and fondness in his voice. Ahsoka snickered in the background._

_"He's a year old, let him be." Anakin bit back._

_"If I could only say that about you." Obi-Wan muttered. Anakin chose to ignore that. Instead he focused his attention on the little boy next to him, who was still happily eating his chocolate flavored birthday cake. When Luke noticed his dad looking at him, he actually stopped eating for a second to look at him. He tilted his little head, like he was trying to figure out why Anakin was looking at him with such interest. Then took a handful of cake and offered it to his father._

_Anakin's heart swelled with love at the gesture. Luke pressed his cake filled hand to his dad's mouth and Anakin ate the cake Luke fed to him, but then pretended to eat Luke's hand. Luke squealed._

_"I can't believe it's been a year already." Anakin said._

_"You're getting old." Ahsoka teased._

_"Oh shut up."_

A tear slipped out of Anakin's eyes, but he quickly wiped it away.

_Somebody was shaking his shoulder._

_"Daddy." A soft whisper in the dark said and Anakin turned towards the voice. He was met with the outline of a four-year-old. He turned on the light next to his bed and came in to direct confrontation with his son. His little face was red and there were tear tracks on his cheeks._

_"Luke," He said softly, "What's wrong?"_

_Luke teared up._

_"I had a nightmare. Can I sleep with you?"_

_Anakin knew that he shouldn't let Luke sleep in his bed every night, but he just couldn't refuse. He sighed, nodded and then pulled back the blankets. Luke immediately climbed into Anakin's bed. He accidently elbowed Anakin in the stomach, but Anakin found that he didn't really mind. Once Luke was tightly snuggled up against his father, Anakin asked:_

_"Wanna tell me what it was about?"_

_"There was a big scary man." Luke started, "He was wearing a mask and he was breathing funny."_

_Anakin hummed._

_"He had a big red sword and I had a blue one. We were fighting, but he trapped me and cut off my hand."_

_Luke pressed his face even more into Anakin's chest. Anakin softly caressed his son's blond curls._

_"I won't let that happen to you." Anakin assured him, "I will always keep you save."_

_Luke looked up at him._

_"Promise?"_

_"Promise." Anakin said and pressed a kiss against his forehead._

Another memory hit him.

_"Forget it, I'll never get it." Luke whined and dropped his helmet in the grass. Anakin was about to walk up to Luke, but Obi-Wan beat him to it. He gathered the white and red bicycle helmet Luke had dropped and walked up to him. He sat down next to Luke on the grass._

_"Do you know how long it took me to learn how to cycle."_

_Luke was mad, but he also wanted to know where Obi-Wan was going with this, so he shook his head._

_"Two whole months."_

_Luke turned to him with big eyes._

_"Really?" Obi-Wan nodded._

_"Every evening, for two months Qui-Gon would try to teach me how to ride a bike and eventually I learned."_

_He handed the helmet back to Luke, how took it hesitantly._

_"You will get it, Luke. It might just take some time."_

_Luke wrapped his arms around Obi-Wan and spoke into his shoulder:_

_"I'm sorry I threw my helmet on the ground."_

_"I forgive you." Obi-Wan said genuinely and returned the hug._

_"Do you want to try again?" Obi-Wan asked as he released Luke from the hug._

_"Yeah!" Luke exclaimed and put his helmet back on._

Another tear slipped out of Anakin's eye. When Padmé died, Anakin had thought he would never get the family he wanted, but he had been so wrong. Luke may be his only blood relative, but Ahsoka and Obi-Wan were part of his family too, one way or another. Anakin knew what he would have to do.

Anakin picked up the phone with heavy heart.

"Obi-Wan, I need help."

* * *

They stood in front of the door.

"I can't do this." Anakin said to Obi-Wan.

"Yes, you can." Obi-Wan reassured him, making calming gestures on Anakin's back.

"Obi-Wan." Anakin pleaded and Obi-Wan gave him the 'You-are-not-get-out-of-this-Anakin' look.

"I can't go in there. That's my little boy." Anakin tried to turn back, but Obi-Wan grabbed his arm.

"He needs you." Anakin tried to fight Obi-Wan's arm, but he held on tightly.

"He needs you right now. He needs you to be the good father you are."

"This is not a bruised knee." Anakin said, "This isn't something I can just make go away by kissing it and promising him ice cream." 

"Have you tried?" Obi-Wan said with a hint of a smile. Anakin shot him a angry look. They held eye contact for a while. Obi-Wan let go of Anakin's arm, slowly. He nodded. Anakin sighed and grabbed the doorknob with an unsteady hand.

"I'll be right outside." Obi-Wan said softly and Anakin nodded before pushing the door open. He stepped inside, but didn't look in Luke's direction, not yet. Anakin closed the door behind him and leant against it for a moment. He closed his eyes and for a moment ignored the sound of the medical machines, ignored the world.

Then he took a deep breath and opened his eyes. He turned his head to the bed and almost closed his eyes again, but he didn't. He pushed himself away from the door and stumbled towards his son. It seemed to take forever to get to the chair next to Luke's hospital bed. He took Luke's left hand into his own.

The last time he had seen Luke was right after his surgery. That had been two weeks ago. Luke had been connected to all kinds of tubes and wires and there had been a white bandage wrapped around his head. Luke was still connected to some wires, but the tube that had previously pushed air into his son's lungs was gone. The white bandage was also gone, revealing a thin layer of blond hair and a pink scar on the left side of his skull.

"I'm sorry, little one." Anakin muttered.

_"Come on Luke, it wasn't that bad!" Anakin said as he and his son left the movie theater._

_"Yes, it was." Luke retorted back._

_"No, it wasn't."_

_"Then I don't believe we say the same movie." Anakin laughed and ruffled Luke's messy blond hair._

_"You spend too much time with Obi-Wan." He declared with a grin on his face. They spent the next couple of minutes walking to the car and further chatting about the movie and its, in Luke's opinion at least, lack of quality. They reached the car, which Anakin unlocked._

_The drove in comfortable silence for a while. The only sounds coming from the car itself and the radio. Anakin was softly tapping on the steering to the beat of the song. It wasn't until they stopped in front of a red light that Luke spoke up._

_"Thanks for taking me out tonight, Father." He spoke softly. Anakin was surprised by his gentle tone._

_"Of course, Little One." He replied in an equally soft voice._

_"Dad," Luke whined, "I'm sixteen. I'm not a 'Little One' anymore."_

_Anakin laughed and patted Luke's shoulder._

_"Whether you like it or not, you will always be my Little One."_

_The light turned green and Anakin started driving again, but he didn't return his eyes to the road._

_"I know, but-" Luke suddenly stopped and a look of pure terror was visible on his face._

_"DAD, LOOK OUT!"_

Suddenly, without warning, Anakin was pulled out of his memories when he felt a small amount of pressure on his hand.

"Luke?" Anakin could not believe what he was feeling, "Luke, do that again."

For a moment nothing happened and Anakin felt a pang of sadness and regret, but then the pressure returned. Anakin couldn't stop the laugh that escaped his mouth.

"Obi-Wan!" He yelled into the direction of the door. Immediately the door opened and showed Obi-Wan's worried face. The worry changed into confusion when he saw Anakin's smile.

"He squeezed my hand." Anakin laughed, "He squeezed my hand, Obi-Wan."

"Are you sure?" Obi-Wan asked. Anakin nodded, slightly annoyed at Obi-Wan's disbelieve. Obi-Wan nearly ran out of the room.

"It's going to be okay." Anakin was not sure if he was trying to reassure himself or Luke, but right now he found that he didn't care. Obi-Wan came back with a nurse in tow. She barely acknowledged Anakin as she walked to Luke's other side and took his other hand in her own.

"Luke, sweetie, can you squeeze my hand?"

The nurse looked at Luke's hand for a moment then turned to Obi-Wan and shook her head slowly. Obi-Wan released a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"Wait." Anakin said desperately, still holding Luke's left hand, "Try this one."

The nurse looked at him with a hint of annoyance, but Anakin had to try.

"Please." 

The nurse sighed and walked to the other side of the bed. Anakin untangled his hand from Luke's, stood up and walked out of the nurse's way. The nurse took once again Luke's hand into her own and repeated her earlier question. Her neutral look was replaced by a warm smile. She looked at Obi-Wan for a second time, but this time she nodded. Obi-Wan gasped.

"I'm going to get the doctor." She said and ran off.

* * *

Luke opened his blue eyes and Anakin had to stop himself from crying out in relief.

"Hello Luke." Doctor Che said not unfriendly. Luke didn't say anything, he just looked around the room, his eyes resting on every person that was currently inside. First Doctor Che, then Ahsoka, followed by Obi-Wan and last Anakin.

Luke's eyes shot full of tears when he saw his father. Anakin who, through years of experience, saw a major panic attack coming up, stepped forward and softly touched Luke's hand. Almost like he was afraid to break him.

"I'm okay." He reassured Luke, "I'm fine. It's you, who I'm worried about."

Doctor Che stepped forward.

"Mister Skywalker, if you please."

Anakin wanted to protest, to say that Luke needed him, but a stern look from both Doctor Che and Obi-Wan changed his mind. He nodded and stepped back.

"Can you follow the light with your eyes, without moving your head please?"

Luke did.

"Very good. Now squeeze my fingers."

Doctor Che held out two fingers. Luke took them with his right hand first and then with his left. Doctor Che nodded slightly. Then she took some flashcard out of the pocket of her coat. She held one in front on Luke and asked:

"Can you tell me what's on this picture?"

Luke nodded and opened his mouth.

"D-d-d-d." He stuttered. Luke's eyes widened in fear.

"It's okay," Doctor Che reassured him, "Take your time."

Obi-Wan put a comforting hand on Anakin's shoulder.

"D-d-d-d." Luke stuttered again, getting increasingly frustrated with his inability to speak. 

"Dog." Doctor Che finished for him and Luke nodded franticly.

"How about we try a different card." She offered and shuffled her cards.

She put a new one in front of Luke's face and asked again:

"Can you tell me what you see on this card and take it slow this time."

Luke bit his lip.

"P-p-p-p-l-l-l." Luke stammered. He then shook his head in defeat.

"It's okay, Luke." Obi-Wan offered, "It's alright."

Luke looked at Obi-Wan with tears in his eyes.

"O-o-o-o-b-b-b-i-i-i." 

Anakin watched Luke become increasingly frustrated with his incapability to speak clearly before the boy gave up completely and sat in his bed with watery eyes. Doctor Che put her flash card back into the pocket of her lab coat. She gave Luke some space.

"It seems like you may have lost some motor function in your right hand." She said, "You also seem to suffer from something that we call neurogenic stuttering."

Luke looked at Anakin panicked and confused.

"You see, Luke," Doctor Che continued, "When the car hit you, your head was jerked to the sides."

Anakin shuffled uneasily, but everybody ignored it.

"This resulted in a Coup-Contrecoup, this caused some bleeding in your brain and because of that you were in a coma for nearly three weeks."

Luke gasped and opened his mouth to speak before realizing that he couldn't.

"We are really glad that you woke up, but you still got a long road ahead of you."

She then turned to Obi-Wan, Anakin and Ahsoka.

"We shall talk about rehabilitation options later."

She nodded at Luke and then stalked away. As soon as she was out of the door, Anakin nearly ran towards Luke's bedside.

"F-f-f." Luke stuttered.

"I know." Anakin said, "I'm here."

He pressed a soft kiss to Luke's forehead, like he had done many times when Luke was young. Obi-Wan and Ahsoka had joined them on the other side of the bed.

"We're all here." Ahsoka said and Obi-Wan nodded, "And we're not going anywhere."


End file.
